WLR Dr.
Nour Bouacha
Research Approach
Research approaches are plans and procedures for research that span the steps from broad assumptions
to detailed methods of data collection, analysis, and interpretation. Informing this decision should be
the philosophical assumptions the researcher brings to the study; procedures of inquiry (called
research designs); and specific research methods of data collection, analysis, and interpretation. The
selection of a research approach is also based on the nature of the research problem or issue being
addressed. Three research approaches are advanced: qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods.
Qualitative and quantitative approaches should not be viewed as rigid, distinct categories, or opposites.
Instead, they represent different ends on a continuum. A study tends to be more qualitative than
quantitative or vice versa. Mixed methods research resides in the middle of this continuum because it
incorporates elements of both qualitative and quantitative approaches.
Often the distinction between qualitative research and quantitative research is framed in terms of using
words (qualitative) rather than numbers (quantitative), or using closed-ended questions (quantitative
hypotheses) rather than open-ended questions (qualitative interview questions). A more complete way
to view the gradations of differences between them is in the basic philosophical assumptions’
researchers bring to the study, the types of research strategies used in the research (e.g., quantitative
experiments or qualitative case studies), and the specific methods employed in conducting these
strategies (e.g., collecting data quantitatively on instruments Vs collecting qualitative data through
observing a setting).
• Quantitative research is an approach for testing objective theories by examining the relationship
among variables. These variables can be measured so that numbered data can be analysed using
statistical procedures. The final written report has a set structure consisting of introduction, literature
and theory, methods, results, and discussion. Those who engage in this form of inquiry have
assumptions about testing theories deductively, building in protections against bias, controlling for
alternative explanations, and being able to generalize and replicate the findings.
• Qualitative research is an approach for exploring and understanding the meaning individuals or
groups ascribe to a social or human problem. The process of research involves emerging questions and
procedures, data typically collected in the participant’s setting, data analysis inductively building from
particulars to general themes, and the researcher making interpretations of the meaning of the data.
Those who engage in this form of inquiry support a way of looking at research that honours an
inductive style, a focus on individual meaning, and the importance of rendering the complexity of a
situation.
• Mixed methods research is an approach to inquiry involving collecting both quantitative and
qualitative data, integrating the two forms of data, and using distinct designs that may involve
philosophical assumptions and theoretical frameworks. The core assumption of this form of inquiry is
1
WLR Dr. Nour Bouacha
that the combination of qualitative and quantitative approaches provides a more complete
understanding of a research problem than either approach alone.
Research Designs
The researcher not only selects a qualitative, quantitative, or mixed methods study to conduct; the
inquirer also decides on a type of study within these three choices. Research designs are types of
inquiry within qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods approaches that provide specific direction
for procedures in a research design. Others have called them strategies of inquiry (Denzin & Lincoln,
2011).
Quantitative Designs: During the late 19th and throughout the 20th century, strategies of inquiry
associated with quantitative research were those that invoked the postpositivist worldview and that
originated mainly in psychology. These include true experiments and the less rigorous experiments
called quasi-experiments. An additional experimental design is applied Behavioral analysis or single-
subject experiments in which an experimental treatment is administered over time to a single
individual or a small number of individuals. One type of nonexperimental quantitative research is
causal-comparative research in which the investigator compares two or more groups in terms of a
cause (or independent variable) that has already happened. Another nonexperimental form of research
is the correlational design in which investigators use the correlational statistic to describe and measure
the degree or association between two or more variables or sets of scores. More recently, quantitative
strategies have involved complex experiments with many variables and treatments.
• Survey research provides a quantitative or numeric description of trends, attitudes, or opinions of a
population by studying a sample of that population. It includes cross-sectional and longitudinal studies
using surveys or structured interviews for data collection with the intent of generalizing from a sample
to a population.
• Experimental research seeks to determine if a specific treatment influences an outcome. The
researcher assesses this by providing a specific treatment to one group and withholding it from another
and then determining how both groups scored on an outcome. Experiments include true experiments,
with the random assignment of subjects to treatment conditions, and quasi-experiments that use
nonrandomized assignments.
Qualitative Designs: In qualitative research, the numbers and types of approaches have also become
more clearly visible during the 1990s and into the 21st century.
• Narrative research is a design of inquiry in which the researcher studies the lives of individuals and
asks one or more individuals to provide stories about their lives. This information is then often retold
by the researcher into a narrative chronology. Often, in the end, the narrative combines views from the
participant’s life with those of the researcher’s life in a collaborative narrative.
2
WLR Dr. Nour Bouacha
• Phenomenological research is a design of inquiry in which the researcher describes the lived
experiences of individuals about a phenomenon as described by participants. This description
culminates in the essence of the experiences for several individuals who have all experienced the
phenomenon. This design involves conducting interviews.
• Grounded theory is a design of inquiry in which the researcher derives a general, abstract theory of a
process, action, or interaction grounded in the views of participants. This process involves using
multiple stages of data collection and the refinement and interrelationship of categories of information.
• Ethnography is a design of inquiry in which the researcher studies the shared patterns of behaviors,
language, and actions of an intact cultural group in a natural setting over a prolonged period of time.
Data collection often involves observations and interviews.
• Case studies are a design of inquiry found especially evaluation, in which the researcher develops an
in-depth analysis of a case, often a program, event, activity, process, or one or more individuals. Cases
are bounded by time and activity, and researchers collect detailed information using a variety of data
collection procedures over a sustained period of time.
Mixed Methods Designs: Mixed methods involve combining or integration of qualitative and
quantitative research and data in a research study. Qualitative data tends to be open-ended without
predetermined responses while quantitative data usually includes closed-ended responses such as
found on questionnaires or psychological instruments. Early thoughts about the value of multiple
methods resided in the idea that all methods had bias and weaknesses, and the collection of both
quantitative and qualitative data neutralized the weaknesses of each form of data. Triangulating data
sources—a means for seeking convergence across qualitative and quantitative methods—was born. By
the early 1990s, mixed methods turned toward the systematic convergence of quantitative and
qualitative databases, and the idea of integration in different types of research designs emerged.
Although many designs exist in the mixed methods field, we will focus on three primary models found
in the social sciences today:
• Convergent parallel mixed methods are a form of mixed methods design in which the researcher
merges quantitative and qualitative data in order to provide a comprehensive analysis of the research
problem. In this design, the investigator typically collects both forms of data at roughly the same time
and then integrates the information in the interpretation of the overall results.
• Explanatory sequential mixed methods are one in which the researcher first conducts quantitative
research, analyses the results and then builds on the results to explain them in more detail with
qualitative research. It is considered explanatory because the initial quantitative data results are
explained further with the qualitative data. It is considered sequential because the initial quantitative
phase is followed by the qualitative phase. This type of design is popular in fields with a strong
3
WLR Dr. Nour Bouacha
quantitative orientation (hence the project begins with quantitative research), but it presents challenges
of identifying the quantitative results to further explore and the unequal sample sizes for each phase of
the study.
• Exploratory sequential mixed methods are the reverse sequence from the explanatory sequential
design. In the exploratory sequential approach, the researcher first begins with a qualitative research
phase and explores the views of participants. The data are then analysed, and the information used to
build into a second, quantitative phase. The qualitative phase may be used to build an instrument that
best fits the sample under study, to identify appropriate instruments to use in the follow-up quantitative
phase, or to specify variables that need to go into a follow-up quantitative study. Particular challenges
to this design reside in focusing in on the appropriate qualitative findings to use and the sample
selection for both phases of research.
These basic models can then be used in more advanced mixed methods strategies.
An embedded mixed methods design involves as well either the convergent or sequential use of data,
but the core idea is that either quantitative or qualitative data is embedded within a larger design (e.g.,
an experiment) and the data sources play a supporting role in the overall design.
A multiphase mixed methods design is common in the fields of evaluation and program interventions.
In this advanced design, concurrent or sequential strategies are used in tandem over time to best
understand a long-term program goal.
